![Anonymous - Portrait of Gillis Mostaert (I)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Anonymous_-_Portrait_of_Gillis_Mostaert_%28I%29.jpg)
Gillis Mostaert the Elder (27 or 28 November 1528 – 28 December 1598) was a
Flemish Renaissance
The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders).
Culture in the Low C ...
painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century.
[Gillis Mostaert]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
He was a versatile artist who worked in various genres including
landscape,
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
painting.
[Carl Van de Velde and James Snyder. "Mostaert: (2) Gillis Mostaert", Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 7 February 2017] Gillis Mostaert was known in particular for his winter landscapes and his scenes with fires and nocturnal scenes and his works in this genre were among the most sought after pieces of his time.
[''Brandekens'' by Gillis Mostaert in the Ximenez House]
/ref> The artist operated a large workshop in Antwerp, which supplied works to prominent patrons. He was a regular collaborator with leading Antwerp artists of his time.[Lode I J Goukens, ''Een geschilderde lijst: innovatie door Gillis Coignet of Gillis Mostaert? Hooiwagen, Parijs, Louvre'']
Universiteit Gent Faculteit Letteren & Wijsbegeerte, Paper Geschiedenis van de beeldende kunst in de Nederlanden II Voor: Professor Koenraad Jonckheere, Academiejaar 2015-2016
Life
Gillis Mostaert was born in Hulst
Hulst () is a municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders.
History
Hulst received city rights in the 12th century.
Hulst was captured from the Spanish in 1591 by Maurice of Orange but was recaptured b ...
. According to the early artist biographer Karel van Mander
Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander I (May 1548 – 2 September 1606) was a Flemish painter, poet, art historian and art theoretician, who established himself in the Dutch Republic in the latter part of his life. He is mainly remembere ...
Gillis Mostaert was the twin brother of the painter Frans Mostaert and the grandson of the painter Jan Mostaert
Jan Mostaert (c. 1475 – 1552/1553) was a Dutch Renaissance painter who is known mainly for his religious subjects and portraits. One of his most famous creations was the ''Landscape with an Episode from the Conquest of America''.
There are ve ...
.[Frans en Gillis Mostart]
in: Karel van Mander
Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander I (May 1548 – 2 September 1606) was a Flemish painter, poet, art historian and art theoretician, who established himself in the Dutch Republic in the latter part of his life. He is mainly remembere ...
, '' Het Schilder-Boeck'', Haarlem, 1604 Modern scholarship casts doubt on the statement that Jan Mostaert was a relative of Gillis.[ Gillis’ father, also called Gillis, was a painter himself.][Lode I J Goukens, ''Gillis Mostaert: Sint-Jorisfeest. Wat zagen kunstenaars en kopers in kermisschilderijen? De case van het Sint-Jorisfeest (MSK Gent)'']
Universiteit Gent Faculteit Letteren & Wijsbegeerte, Paper Geschiedenis van de beeldende kunst in de Nederlanden II Voor: Professor Koenraad Jonckheere, Academiejaar 2015-2016
While his brother Frans became a pupil of the landscape painter Herri met de Bles
Herri met de Bles, also known as Henri Blès, Herri de Dinant, Herry de Patinir, and ''il Civetta'' (c. 1490 – after 1566), was a Flemish Northern Renaissance and Mannerist landscape painter, native of Bouvignes or Dinant (both in present-day ...
, Gillis studied landscape painting with Jan Mandijn from 1550, the year he was registered as a pupil in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
.[ Van Mander recounts that both brothers joined the Antwerp ]Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
in 1555.[ However, since Frans received a registered pupil in 1553 it is more likely that Frans had become a master in the Guild earlier.][De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde] van 1453-1615, edited and published by Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, Antwerp, 1872-1876, p. 184 ] It is suspected that Gillis worked along Marten van Cleve and in the studio of Frans Floris
Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits.< ...
, the leading Antwerp history painter of his time.[
]
Gillis Mostaert married Margareta Baes in 1563 and the couple had six children.[ He was well-respected by his fellow painters. The painters ]Peeter Baltens
Peeter Baltens, Pieter Balten or Pieter Custodis (c. 1527 in Antwerp – 1584 in Antwerp), was a Flanders, Flemish Renaissance painter, draughtsman, engraver and publisher. Baltens was also active as an art dealer and poet. He was known for ...
and Crispin van den Broeck were godfathers to his children born in 1571 and 1588.
Mostaert established a thriving workshop in Antwerp and his work commanded high prices in the market.[ Inventories of art collections from most important collectors of the late 16th and early 17th centuries list many expensive ]cabinet painting
A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture") is a small painting, typically no larger than two feet (0.6 meters) in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a s ...
s of Mostaert, which shows that his work received patronage of prominent and well-off private clients.[Buyck Jean F., ''Gillis Mostaert - Christus door Pilatus aan het volk getoond'']
at tento These collectors included François Perrenot de Granvelle (1559-1607) (younger brother of Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (20 August 151721 September 1586), Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, was a Bisontin ( Free Imperial City of Besançon) statesman, made a cardinal, who followed his father as a leading minister of the Spanish Habsb ...
), Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553-1595) and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts.
He held a number of military commands, with limited success, an ...
. Filips van Valckenisse who was the Lord of Hemiksem, head of the Antwerp militia and perhaps Antwerp's greatest art collector owned over 50 paintings by Mostaert.[Gillis Mostaert, ''Lot and his daughters guided by angels, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah beyond'']
at Sotheby's
He died in Antwerp. It is believed that he was heavily indebted at the time of his death and that the contents of his workshop was sold off or distributed to creditors to pay off these debts.[ Many of his works were acquired by Filips van Valckenisse, lord of ]Hemiksem
Hemiksem (, historical spellings ''Heymissen'' and ''Hemixem'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Hemiksem proper. In 2021, Hemiksem had a total population of 11,722. The tot ...
, who still owned a number of these when he died himself in 1614.[
]
Work
Very few works can be attributed with certainty to Gillis Mostaert as he signed few of his paintings.[ He added usually the monogram GM and the year on those works that he signed.][ Mostaert likely operated a large workshop with an important output. He seems to have worked mainly for private clients to whom he supplied pictures in a wide range of subjects. These included scenes of markets, fairs and village, allegories of the four seasons, winter and snow landscapes, scenes of war, hell and burning houses, religious subjects as well as parables and allegories.][Gillis Mostaert (1528-98): a contemporary of Bruegel]
at codart Mostaert often used copper as a support for his oil paintings, which gives them a certain luster or glowing appearance.[
Mostaert is believed to have played an important role in the development in Antwerp of genre and landscape art, through his scenes depicting the activities of contemporary people by means of the many small figures in his compositions. He is further credited with the introduction into genre art of the ]Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...
style of representing the human figure that was typical for the Antwerp Mannerists of the Frans Floris
Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits.< ...
School.[ Key characteristics of this emerging style are the natural depiction of nature and reflecting surfaces, the inclusion of various small figures to animate his canvases and the blending of landscape with history.][Christine Göttler, “Wit in Painting, Color in Words: Gillis Mostaert’s Depictions of Fires]
, in: Trading Values in Early Modern Antwerp, Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 64 (2014), ed. Christine Göttler, Bart Ramakers, Joanna Woodall (Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 214-237
He was in his time known for the wit displayed in his works. He reportedly painted a ''Resurrection of Lazarus'', which included a self-portrait of himself amongst the crowd holding his nose so as not to smell Lazarus’ smell of decay. He was thus regarded as continuing a Flemish artistic tradition of which Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...
was the earliest representative and of which his contemporary Pieter Bruegel the Elder was another example.[ He was active as an imitator of ]Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...
. For his Bosch-inspired compositions he drew his main inspiration from one of the five tapestries after Bosch that were woven for Cardinal Granvelle in Brussels in 1566. A composition inspired by Bosch is the ''Haywain'' (also known as the ''Allegory on worldly and clerical abuses'') of which he produced various versions (e.g. Rijksmuseum on loan to the Museum Catharijneconvent).[ The picture is an allegorical painting, which satirizes the Roman Catholic Church. The battle for the hay represents the greed that leads to strife, misery, death and destruction. The 16th-century meaning of the expression "It's all hay" was: it's all worthless, a deception. In the picture Mostaert has placed monks and church dignitaries closest to the haywain in criticism of the Catholic clergy. Throughout the composition the ]seven deadly sins
The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...
are represented: gluttony, sloth, envy, avarice, pride, wrath and lust. For instance, a man on the far left has fallen asleep on a bag of hay and represents sloth.
Mostaert's 'fire paintings' were listed in the inventories of important collectors of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Scenes depicting the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the burning of villages at night gave the artist the opportunity to show off his skill in rendering the effects of light and fire. One of his masterpieces in this genre is the ''Landscape with marauding soldiers'' (1569, Louvre). This composition offers a nightly view over a landscape with a river an at least 8 sources of fire extending over the whole horizon. The fires were likely set by soldiers, some of whom are shown under attack by villagers in retribution. The villagers appear to have gained the upper hand on the soldiers some of whom together with their female companions are shown on the foreground lying on the ground under threat of being killed. The loot including some gleaming pots and pans and some bundles is likely to be recovered by the villagers.
Mostaert is credited with the invention of paintings of biblical scenes, which are framed on all sides by smaller scenes in grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...
painted on wood. An example is ''The Baptism of Christ'' (Fondation Custodia). Mostaert started creating these composite paintings from the 1570s onwards. Several of his paintings in this style were formerly incorrectly ascribed to Frans Francken the Younger
Frans Francken the Younger (1581 in Antwerp, 1581 – 6 May 1642, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter who created altarpieces and furniture panels and gained his reputation chiefly through his small and delicate cabinet pictures with historical, m ...
who painted similar scenes into the 1620s.[Martha Hollander, ''An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-century Dutch Art'', University of California Press, 2002, p. 35.]
He was sought after as a staffage
In painting, staffage () are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a landscape, that are not the primary subject matter of the work. Typically they are small, and there to add an indication of scale and add interest.
Before ...
painter and added the figures in landscapes of his Antwerp colleagues such as Cornelis van Dalem (to whom he introduced Bartholomäus Spranger as a pupil), Marten van Cleve, Cornelis Molenaer
Cornelis Molenaer or Cornelis Molenaar (born c. 1540 - 1589 was a Flemish Renaissance painter known for his landscapes with biblical scenes.
Biography
Molenaer was born and died in Antwerp. According to Karel van Mander he was called ''Schele Nee ...
and Jacob Grimmer
Jacob Grimmer (1526/26 – before May 1590) was a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman. His rural scenes and landscapes of views around Antwerp marked an important development in 16th century Flemish landscape painting away from the world l ...
and in the architectural paintings and city views of Hendrik van Steenwijck I
Hendrik van Steenwijck I (also ''Steenwyck'', ''Steenwijk'') (''c''. 1550 – buried 1 September 1603[Hendrik ...](_blank)
and Hans Vredeman de Vries
Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...
.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostaert, Gillis
Flemish Renaissance painters
Flemish landscape painters
Flemish history painters
Flemish genre painters
Painters from Antwerp
1528 births
1598 deaths
People from Hulst
Artists from Antwerp